Several developers have raised concerns over Apple sending them an email and threatening their apps to be removed from the App Store, citing that they had not been updated in a "significant amount of time."
However, the company has finally responded to these complaints after issuing a press release saying that these apps were not being downloaded by users anyways.
"Remove Apps that no Longer Function"
Apple recounted in their press release that back in 2016, they launched the App Store Improvements process to "remove apps that no longer function" and do not adhere to review guidelines.
"This helps us ensure apps work for the vast majority of users and support our latest innovations in security and privacy. Over the course of the past six years, we have removed almost 2.8 million apps as part of this process," the company wrote in their statement.
The notice was released on Friday, Apr. 29, and according to The Verge, they had reports from developers like Robert Kabwe and Emilia Lazer-walker. They received these emails and expressed dismay that they only had 30 days to update their apps or else it would be removed for good.
Other developers also took to Twitter to express their disappointment and said that the amount of time to make changes in the policy was particularly unfair to indie developers.
I feel sick. Apple just sent me an email saying they're removing my free game Motivoto because its more than 2 years old.
— Protopop Games (@protopop) April 23, 2022
It's part of their App improvement system.
This is not cool. Console games from 2000 are still available for sale.
This is an unfair barrier to indie devs. pic.twitter.com/7XNcLfiEcR
"Wiping Away an Entire Class of Apps"
Developers were also concerned about Apple opting to wipe away an entire class of apps since they were deemed to not belong in its store. Lazer-Walker said on Twitter that games must be allowed to finish and that even without service, they are still valuable.
Kabwe resonated the same argument and equated the idea to buying console games from the 2000s.
Apple's press release did not clarify why, as some developers raised, the company did not apply the same rules consistently. An example of this is when one developer named Kosta Eleftheriou, tweeted that his game for the visually impaired community was removed after not updating it for two years.
However, he also noted that games like Pocket God had not been updated for seven years, but it is still on the App Store. The Verge said that Apple keeps apps like this because of their popularity.
Mitchell Clark wrote that Apple removing apps is contradictory to the "user trust in quality apps" that it is imposing.
He further said, "if an app is problematic because it's outdated, more downloads would make a bad app a bigger issue. Who's being harmed if there's an outdated app almost no one is downloading?"
However, Apple said in their press release that they always aim to help developers and keep quality software on the App Store. Hence, they are allowing developers to issue an appeal for the removal of their apps.
"Developers, including those who recently received a notice, will now be given more time to update their apps if needed - up to 90 days. Apps that are removed will continue to function as normal for users who have already downloaded the app on their device," the company said.
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Joaquin Victor Tacla
